University or Further Education?
I think that this might be a little controversial and will hopefully spark some debate! I will state up front that I am an indentured apprentice with 6 years productive employment before going to university, gaining a BEng in Aerosystems Engineering, my career since then has been involved management, including establishing and running Mackenzie Morgan. My primary area of expertise is airworthiness management and all that that involves. I believe in the value of a university education.
Why have I decided to get involved in this highly charged debate? I believe that the voice of the SME has not been heard in the debate, what do we want as small employers, from our new starters? Are we getting the individuals with the skills we can employ? I think that we are going to witness another lost opportunity to re-define education past the age of 16, as a country do we need more than 50% of our school leavers to have a degree? I was driven to despair yesterday evening by an academic from Oxford extolling the virtues of a degree as a purely educational exercise; in his view we are not an economy any more, by inference we are a service based economy, looking at the last 18-24 months look where has that got us! We need people with high skill levels and a good understanding of the technology in front of them, I am sure that the academic would not want a graduate in media studies installing his central heating, planning and scheduling the maintenance on his commuter train or airliner taking him to some conference on “the value of graduates to society” or some other such esoteric subject.
I have over the last few years found it increasingly difficult to find people to fulfil the tasks I have needed to be completed; engineering, whatever the discipline, is seen as a dirty word, people do not want to join our profession. They have been seduced by the media highlighting that graduates may be able to earn more than non-graduates; it is not the case across all industries or disciplines. What is the driving factor of a government to say we want in-excess of school-leavers to have a degree? Surely the drive should be for further education, we need people to take up trades, and vocations.
There will always be a need for a whole range of trades, try finding a plumber, builder or electrician, how about IT support? From my industry, the age profile of licensed engineers is of concern, it is aging and we are not filling the gaps from the bottom, the same can be said for all other areas of aviation; planning, records, development engineering, reliability and maintenance programme development. We need to get the government to stop mentioning only university, they need to bring vocational and other forms of further education in to debate; if the government is serious about developing an economy based on manufacturing and service industries this has to happen. We cannot continue to dilute the value of a graduate with an ever increasing number and expect industry to generate the revenues necessary.
We must encourage greater use of further education in different areas, we must encourage the development of applicable and relevant practical training for our industry. I look forward to your thoughts and comments!
Malcolm – at the risk of similar unpopularity I have to agree with your sentiments.
Firstly lets get my educational credentials out of the way, I did poorly in my “A” levels and then did a HND in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Some 15 years later I did a Master’s in Air Transport Management on a part-time basis at City University.
Increasingly when I speak to people under the age of thirty, they find it difficult to accept the fact that people used to fail or do poorly in “A” levels and I almost get the impression from some that I am making it up.
I’ve never go on to mention the “milk” round, because today’s graduates would think that employers wanting to cream off the brightest and best, is fantasy on my part – but as we both know that used to happen.
On the engineering front, we have a major perception issue – we live in a world of celebrity culture – how many aspiring Ross Brawn’s do we have? Nowhere near as many as aspiring Jenson Buttons
As for failing to listen to the SME sector, I think it’s a case of here we go again. Throughout the election campaign all the parties tried to dodge the subject of what cuts they would need to make, none of them thought about wealth creation and how to encourage an entrepreneurial environment, which would create opportunities and employment, especially for those who will be displaced from the public sector.
I actually think that the reduction in University places may do some individuals a favour by avoiding three or four years of debt to acquire a qualification which in many cases has been devalued. Instead they will have more time to assess where they are going and in some cases gain useful real world experience which will make them stand out from the crowd.
Malcolm, undoubtedly things have changed… I left school in 1974 with a handful of ‘O’ Levels and consequently never even thought of university. However, in those days it was still possible to break into what now would be the preserve of graduates. I attended Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Warsash Merchant Navy College, and later graduated from RAF Cranwell as an officer and a fast jet pilot. Since then I have enjoyed a career as a commercial pilot and senior airline manager. Try that now and your application will be rejected by an automated screening system!
That said, if young people had confidence that a sound education and training in a technical subject would secure them a future in employment, at least for a decade if not for a lifetime, then many more might turn there back on the ubiquitous university application process and focus on what they are good and and will enjoy.
Roy, Jo
Thanks for your comments and contribution to the blog.
I think we are saying a similar thing, there is not a one size fits all solution as is being sold by the authorities at present, there needs to be a career path that is not based on a degree but is based on a proper hands-on training. University should not be seen as the default position as it is today. As a pratically orientated business I need practically skilled people, not a graduate in “media” studies.
Malcolm
Hi Malcolm,
My favourite subject!
To start, I am a tiny bit off 30 so am from a newish generation where the apprenticeship did not seem to be that easy to find! Whilst at school studying my A Level’s, all that I ever got from my school and classmates was, ‘which University are you going to?’ ‘What are you going to study?’ etc etc. Now, all I ever wanted to do was take things apart and put them back together and loved anything that flew, so to be honest I was never interesed in going to Uni but my Careers Advisor pushed me away from the idea of an apprenticeship. On leaving School at 18, I managed to find myself an apprenticeship as an aircraft engineer! My point, I felt very insignificant to all my classmates who went off and got degrees, however it was the best decision I ever made!!! I got myself a license, a whole load of experience, and finally some years later a B Eng (Hons) in Aircraft Engineering! I am proud that I have a skill and had a great time learning how to use my hands and make a difference. I would recommend to anyone to get out there, get a skill, get some experience and then tackle Uni at a later date if you feel it is for you!! (Unless you are a Teacher or Brain Surgeon!! Then Uni is for you!)
Andy
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Malcolm Cox, A2B aero. A2B aero said: RT @mackenziemorgan: has just post their thoughts on further education at http://tinyurl.com/3xp5mju, as usual your thoughts please! [...]
I totally agree with you. In 1974 when I went for my degree I read a book which was part of a course called
“Engineering an Innovative Profession”. I live by that a university degree is not only about learning science or literature, it is more of a way how one approaches problem solving, projects and every endeavor in life whether professional or personal. I feel these days our children go to university cram whatever subjects they have to and come out without a real education. We need to look at education and university degrees as a means to preparing new generations on how to tackle and deal with life needs and requirements on a professional and personal levels.
nice post. thanks.